HALF FROZEN GECKO SHIPPED

this week alone i have gotten 2 shippments both of which had half frozen to death animals. If i didnt hold them in my hands and warm them up they wouldnt have made it.
Both boxes had a heat pack but they were burried under news paper at the bottom of the box. ONly thing kept warm was the newspaper.
Anyone know of a better way to ship or of a good heat pack? The people who shipped them swore to me that they were 40 hour heat packs but there wasnt anything on them to say what they were.
They were white packets kinda like a mesh material and no larger than the palm of my hand.
One things for sure, I"m not buying during the winter months again. IT was devistating to see them on their backs like that.
My friend called me and told me that she had just gotten hers and warned me to hold them in my hands and warm them up... just keep rubbing their head. IT did the trick but it sure was scary and all I wanted to do was cry for the poor little guy.

Hi again Veronica,

The 40h pack should be bigger than that. Sounds like it may be just a "hand warmer" that was used. Some have print and some
dont. One problem is just shipping in this kind of weather. If its
20 degrees at night like it is here in Oklahoma, a heat pack wont do a tremendous amount of good. They shouldnt be place directly
on plastic containers however what we sometimes do is to wrap
the heat packs in paper towels, tape it so the paper doesnt come
off, and then tape that to the side or top of the plastic container,never on the bottom. Right now as cold as it is I would
recommend not shipping period. It puts the animal at great risk and where normally a one day delay might not be that big a deal, it can easily mean the life of the animal at this time of year. Two forty hour heatpacks min just for one leo should be used right now in my opinion.
Like I said before right now is just not a good time to ship.
Was the box insulated and if so how?

God Bless
Ben

thanks for your kind reply.
this is the first time i've bought online and had something shipped during the cold winter months. Most of the time i drive to pick them up. I found local breeders. But sometimes some types of animals or a morph can not be found locally and since I'm a collector not a breeder I search around for what im looking for.
As soon as i see a morph i want i jump to it.sometimes without researching first thats my fault. I've learned my lesson thats for sure.
I have eggs from my normal fat tails and so far have no intentions on shipping them. I have a list of local people, friends and family, who want them. I plan on just doing it local for now. I doubt one breeding pair of a few morphs will produce too much for me to handle locally.
thanks again for your post.
Veronica Davidson
oh here is a photo i took of one of the babies i had to revive.
should have put a quarter next to it for the photo but its no longer than my thumb.

Ben,

I wanted to correct you on a few things. First the 20 hour, 40 hour, and 60 hour heat packs are all the same size and are the size of the one she received. We have seen pictures of this one on the BOI so I am sure it is at least a 20 hour pack and the hand warmers are half the size of this type.
Second, If when packing in the winter time, you only pack the heat pack on the top of the box the heat does not heat down into the box. AS we all know heat rises and if the heat pack is placed on the bottom the heat will be better evenly distributed throughout the box. This is the method I ship using and it works wonderfully. It will also work well if placed on the side of the container. During the Hot months a cool pack should be placed on top as again heat rises and the cooler temps sink thereby cooling the entire box off. I hope this helps you and others as well.

I guess it's all a matter of personal preferences, but I prefer to tape the heat packs to the underside of the lid as well.

Sure heat does rise, but if it is contained in a well insulated box, it has no where to go but downwards, heating the entire interior of the box. I am much more afraid of reptiles getting overheated than I am of them getting chilled. What my aim is with a heat pack (sometimes two of them packaged together) is to warm up the inside of the box sufficiently without overheating the occupants. I just feel that on the outside chance that my box may wind up in a heated room for a few hours, packaging them this way just gives the animals a better chance of not getting TOO warm. If it is so cold that the heat packs used this way would not be worthwhile, then I just do not ship at all and await a better day to do so.

I saw your post on the BOI and am compelled to respond. I experienced a real tragedy a few years ago when a supposed reputable breeder shipped me a juvie Leopard Gecko in the middle of January with no heat-pack whatsoever, and the poor little thing was unconscious for days and unable to walk for months due to such severe hypothermia. I dropper fed that baby for almost 4 months before she was able to eat on her own, and she suffered some brain damage. She eventually made a full recovery.

First of all, Airborne Express has very strict shipping terms and policies regarding the shipment of live animals. Lizards are prohibited from being shipped, and most breeders who do it anyway do not label the boxes with it's contents because the shipment would be refused. This puts the responsibility of non-compliance on the shipper, because Airborne can take no responsibility. Air cargo areas are subject to sub-freezing temperatures and very low air pressure. (Think about the conditions of atmosphere at the altitudes that jets fly...)

As a breeder who ships live Leopard Geckos across the country, it is my belief that even if a standard 40-hour heat pack was used in your shipment it would not have been able to hold up under those conditions, and the fact that the little gecko arrived alive at all indicates that it WAS used and most likely saved it's life.

Second, when a reptile arrives in an obvious hypothermic state... (listless, stiff, and unresponsive), the absolute worst thing you can do is expose them to sudden warm temperatures. It is human nature to want to instantly "thaw them out," but in most cases that can do serious neurological and/or tissue damage. It is best to allow them to gradually acclimate to normal ambient room temperture (around 72-74 degrees) for several hours or until they become responsive before exposing them to heat. Be aware that after they are exposed to hypothermic conditions, they are vulnerable to secondary respiratory infections.

For more detailed information on Airborne's Policies and Regulations, go to their URL at:
Airborne Express - Shipping Policies

Best of luck,
Marcia McGuiness - The Lizard Lady
www.thelizardlady.net